Politics divide us on sexual predators

Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore is accused of sexually assaulting two women decades ago when they were teenagers. About a half-dozen other women also have accused Moore of inappropriate conduct.(Photo: Brynn Anderson, AP)

I'm trying to get my head around how the arguments work about Al Franken, Roy Moore, Harvey Weinstein, President Trump, Mark Halperin, Brett Ratner, etc., and how seriously their various supporters and detractors see their actions. Those who stand accused of inappropriate sexual behavior seem to be divided into two groups.

Group 1 works in media, entertainment, sports, business, etc. Most people would regard them as persons of general interest, but we don't really have an opinion about these men beyond the fact that they appear to be sexual predators. So we feel free to demand they be punished severely.

Group 2 are the politicians. In the case of politics, most of us do have an opinion beyond these men's transgressions. So there may be a conflict between our politics and how much judgment we think we need to rain down on a sexual predator.

As such, liberals can look the other way at Bill Clinton and just call him a horn dog because they like his politics. And conservatives can support Roy Moore and yell that it's all fake news because Moore represents something in their political value system that outweighs his treatment of women.